Chapter 171 Ensuring Safety
Inside Bryce's study, Bryce sat behind his desk, and Angela sat on the couch. They both patiently waited for Martin to understand what they had just found.
"Do you think we should be worried about this, given the recent events?" Angela asked, breaking the silence between them.
"All those who want to harm us are in prison now. There is no way they could bother us from there," Bryce said to calm her down. "I am sure it's nothing. Let's just wait for Martin to confirm if all the bulbs in the house have that," he added.
But Bryce gave Angela's concern a thought. Matilda, George, Susan and Devon are in prison, not dead. The chief of police, who was equally involved in this whole thing, is still walking free. He was very instrumental in the arrest of Devon, but that doesn't mean he may not come after them. Even though this chief of police may have no reason to, it doesn't mean that if contracted, he would not. If he had received money to support evil before, what prevents him from doing so again?
There was a knock on the door, and Bryce lifted his head to stare at the door after inviting the person in. Martin strode in with Zora trailing behind him.
"What do we have?" Bryce asked.
"All the rooms have the burnt, broken metal in one of the bulbs," Martin reported. "I reached out to a friend to help me find out what it is. Even though he could not identify the object, he was sure someone might have deliberately put it there. For what purpose, he can only tell if he knew what it was before it was reduced to these scraps," he added.
"Could it be a camera or something?" Angela asked, drawing everyone's attention to herself.
"A micro camera, we can't rule that out as a possibility, but if it is, how did it reduce to this?" Martin asked, showing Angela the broken, burnt metals he had collected from all the rooms inside a box.
"Something is not right. Arranged a meeting with the sellers of this apartment. Keep that somewhere. I need to get to the bottom of this. I want to be sure everyone is safe," Bryce said to Martin. "For now, everyone relax. Forget about this. I promise you, nothing bad is going to happen to anyone. Martin, have cameras installed in all of the rooms. Do this discreetly," he added, and Martin nodded.
"I will go take care of this right away," Martin said, leaving Zora behind.
"I will go with Zora. I guess you will have to prepare for tomorrow," Angela said, and Bryce nodded.
Angela stood up and exited the study with Zora. Bryce was left alone in the study. He began to process what they had just found. The thought of being watched hung on his mind like a shadow. It brought him some sort of uneasiness in his spirit.
"Calm down, Bryce. It's over, but not all over. Just keep your eyes open. Once the cameras are installed, I will have eyes everywhere to ensure everyone is safe," Bryce whispered to himself and decided to distract himself by working on the company rebranding.
He had already prepared something to present to the employees the next day. He decided to go through it and finalised it.
Later in the evening, Bryce and Martin met with the gentleman who had sold the apartment to Bryce.
"I am not sure what this is either. I would have to contact the company we contracted to renovate the apartment," the man said, and Bryce frowned.
The gentleman he had come with sat next to him, not uttering a word. His eyes flickered occasionally, and anytime his gaze fell on Bryce, he would frown, but the frown would vanish as quickly as it had come. Martin stood there on the balcony taking the outside view in, but what the gentleman did not know was that Martin was watching him from his reflection that was in the glass window in front of them. From where Martin stood, the reflection in the window was visible to him, but from where Bryce and the two gentlemen sat, they could not see that.
The conversation ended with the seller apologising to Bryce for all the inconvenience caused and an assurance to file a complaint with the company they had contracted to renovate the house, to understand where those things were coming from.
"Okay, I will await your feedback," Bryce said and stood up.
The two gentlemen stood up too and exchanged handshakes with Bryce before getting off the balcony. They headed for the car, and Bryce stood on the balcony with Martin, watching them get into the car. They soon drove out of the compound.
"So, your view?" Bryce asked.
"Sir, they are not being entirely honest with us. The second gentleman knows something. He didn't like you and occasionally expressed it, knowing you were not paying attention to him," Martin reported.
"I see," Bryce said. "Find out which company did the renovation of this apartment. I want to be sure it's nothing before I let go," he added.
"Yes, boss," Martin acknowledged, and the two went back into the house.
"Mr Moore, your request has been completed. The installation has been done in all the rooms except the bathrooms," Martin reported.
"Good, hope the aliens saw nothing," Bryce said, and Martin knew by aliens he meant the servants and guards in the apartment.
"No, I engaged all of them to keep them out of the apartment before the installation was done," Martin said, and Bryce wondered if he had only sent them out into the compound.
"How did you do that?" Bryce asked as they headed upstairs.
"I distributed the guards in pairs among the servants and sent them out to get suppliers for the house. They went out in the two cars. They got back not long ago," Martin reported.
"That is perfect," Bryce said.
"It also means dinner will be late because they are now cooking," Martin reported.
"That is fine. Safety first," Bryce said, and they went their separate ways once in the hallway. Each to his room.
Once Bryce entered the bedroom, Zora excused herself. She exited the room and hurried back to her room. She was expecting to see Martin waiting for her, but to her disappointment, Martin was not in her room. She exited her room and headed for Martin's room. She knocked and heard Martin's deep voice inviting her in.
As soon as Zora entered and closed the door behind her, she ran into Martin's arms and kissed him.
"So what did they say? Should we be worried? Are we safe?" Zora asked multiple questions at once after pulling away from the kiss.
"For now, we are safe, but we are still looking into it," Martin replied. "And we agreed to keep our relationship from Mr and Mrs Moore for now," he added and flexed his face, making Zora look in a particular direction.
"Oh, the cameras," Zora whispered.
"I will clear this before I give the access to Mr Moore. But in the future, if you want to give me such a hearty welcome, let's use the bathroom," Martin whispered back, holding Zora by the waist as she rested her hand on his chest.
"That means, this would be the last time I will freely share a moment like this with you," Zora asked with a sad face, and Martin kissed her before replying.
"No, it won't be. I will make sure we get to spend time together and get to know each other better. I am Martin, head of the guards and top of security after all. If I can dig things out, I do have my ways," Martin said, and Zora smiled.
She threw her hands around Martin and locked his lips in a passionate kiss. Martin pulled her closer to himself. His hard chest felt the softness of her chest, and he wanted so badly to feel them in his hand, but he controlled himself. Their passionate moment was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"I guess it's my boss. Quick, go into the bathroom," Martin whispered, and Zora smiled.
She covered her mouth to prevent her giggling from coming out loud. The whole scene looks to her like they were two teenagers hiding their relationship from their parents.
Martin went to answer the door as soon as Zora was inside the bathroom and the door closed.
"I wanted to discuss Zora's new position with her, but she was not in her room. I figured she was with you," Bryce said, and Martin made a face.
"Oh no, she is not. Maybe she went out or something," Martin replied, and Bryce smiled.
"I am in love. So I can tell when someone is in love. If you like her, go for her. She is a good girl. Once she is out of your bathroom, give this to her and tell her to reach out if she is confused about anything," Bryce said, and Martin didn't know what to say.
"Congratulations. I am glad you have someone," Bryce said and walked away, and Martin remained frozen at the door for a while before entering and closing it, holding the file Bryce had given him for Zora.
"Errrrrr, you can come out. Mr Moore knows about us," Martin said, and Zora entered the bedroom.
"How?" Zora asked, surprised.
"He is in love, too. I guess we reek of love and our chemistry is obvious," Martin said.
"Was he angry?" Zora asked, looking worried.
"He gave us his blessing," Martin said. "And he asked me to give you this," he added and gave the file to Zora.
"It means I have to tell Angela," Zora said, accepting the file from Martin's hand.
"I am okay with that," Martin said, and Zora smiled, making Martin smile too.
They ended up kissing, with Zora's hand wrapped around his neck while holding the file.
Back in Bryce's room, Bryce smiled when he walked in.
"They are together like we thought?" Angela asked with a smile plastered on her face.
"Yep," Bryce confirmed, smiling. "I thought we were talking about us. How did we end up talking about them?" he asked.
"You passed a comment, and I only told you what I saw when they both walked into the study," Angela said.
"Well, I am glad that in the middle of a situation, you were calm enough to notice the chemistry between them. I realise Martin was in love with your friend after we saved you two, but he concealed it," Bryce said.
"I noticed it when we moved in here. I am sure Zora made the move," Angela said, and they both laughed.
"Martin was just being careful," Bryce defended, and they both laughed about it.
Angela's phone rang, and the name that flashed on the screen was Elorm. She looked at it and frowned. She knew who Elorm was, but why was he calling her?